WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Shouting from the audience . Holding up signs blasting the health care reform bill before Congress . Frequent hissing and booing .

Many Facebook and Twitter users condemned Rep. Joe Wilson for his outburst toward President Obama .

Though it sounds like behavior at one of the health care town hall meetings last month , it was how some Republicans reacted to President Obama 's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night .

But Norm Ornstein , a longtime observer of Congress and an expert at the American Enterprise Institute , said the tone and behavior from members of Congress are not necessarily new .

`` A lot of what went on -LSB- Wednesday -RSB- night has become fairly typical of what we 've seen in the State of the Union messages over the last 10 or 12 years , where it 's one side jumping up wildly and the other side sitting on their hands in stony silence . ''

The most memorable moment came from Rep. Joe Wilson , R-South Carolina , who shouted `` You lie '' after the president said that a Democratic-sponsored health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants .

Ornstein said that in addition to being beyond the bounds of what is typical , Wilson 's comment is `` just sort of stunning in the level of disrespect for not just the president but the presidency . '' Watch more of Wilson 's outburst ''

During several moments in Obama 's speech , members of the GOP hissed and yelled at the president as he laid out his plan for reform . One Republican held a sign saying , `` What bill ? ''

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor , R-Virginia , was seen several times typing on his phone during the speech .

Vice President Joe Biden told ABC 's `` Good Morning America '' on Thursday that he was `` embarrassed for the chamber and a Congress I love . ''

Observers said the behavior is probably indicative of the vitriolic sentiments found during town hall meetings .

`` I think a lot of those Republican members went home to their district and were met with very angry reaction from their constituents . Congress , as you know , is pretty polarized , '' said Kasie Hunt , a health care reporter for National Journal 's Congress Daily . `` I think , in some ways , that 's what you really saw last night : the degree of acceptance of that angry discord that we 've really had n't seen in a long time . ''

Hunt said there is still a lot of misunderstanding among Republican members of Congress .

John O'Connor , who covers politics for The State newspaper in South Carolina , said that a lot of Wilson 's anger mirrors what many feel in his home state .

`` I think he feels the way a lot of people in South Carolina feel about -LSB- health care reform -RSB- . They 're suspicious . They 're worried . There 's some fear out there about what could happen . ''

But O'Connor points out that South Carolina tends to be more conservative than other states , and Wilson 's town halls were generally civil .

`` Rep. Wilson , however , held a town hall meeting in Columbia where , for the most part , there was a pretty reasoned debate , '' he added . `` There were folks on both sides raising issues , asking questions . ''

Still , it might have been Wilson 's constituents ' anger and distrust that contributed to the outburst in Congress , O'Connor noted .

`` His takeaway from that was that people support his stance , which was to oppose any version of what he 's calling Obamacare , '' he said . `` So despite the fact that there was clearly some support in that audience for doing something about health care and health insurance , he kind of had a different impression of what the majority of the crowd thought . ''

Could Wilson face any trouble for his comments Wednesday night ? Unlikely , according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi .

Pelosi said Thursday that there is a procedure that could have been implemented to strike Wilson 's `` lie '' comment from the record . But she said the president did the right thing in continuing on and not giving it `` any more attention than it deserved . ''

Pelosi indicated that she would not press the issue farther .

`` As far as I 'm concerned , the episode was unfortunate . Mr. Wilson has apologized . It 's time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson , '' she said .

Political observers in South Carolina opine that the comment heard around the world `` was a little surprising . ''

`` This is not his personality . He 's not a guy who tends to make a lot of inflammatory statements . You expect that a lot more from Rep. DeMint -LSB- Republican from South Carolina -RSB- than Wilson for sure , '' O'Connor added .

Wilson said Thursday that his outburst was simply `` spontaneous . '' Watch Obama 's full speech ''

Meanwhile , the controversy surrounding him -- and anger on both sides of the aisle to his statement -- has helped his opponent in the 2010 midterm election .

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Thursday afternoon that since Wilson 's comment , his Democratic opponent , former Marine Rob Miller , received 11,000 individual grass-roots contributions and raised more than $ 400,000 .

During the 2008 election , when support for Democrats and Obama was high , Wilson faced a tough slog against Miller .

The Republican , who represents the 2nd Congressional District , including most of Columbia and parts east , won 54 percent of the vote to Miller 's 46 percent .

Ornstein added that Wilson 's comment was an `` incredibly dumb thing to do '' for the broader picture of the Republican Party .

`` It was a gift , in a way , to Barack Obama , '' he said . `` To independent voters out there , this just underscored the notion that you 've got a party that is unremittingly hostile to the president that has no interest in negotiating or finding common ground . ''

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President Obama delivered his health care reform plan to Congress on Wednesday

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GOP Rep. Joe Wilson yelled out `` you lie '' during Obama 's speech

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S.C. observer says his view might be echoing sentiment from voters